The mystery was quickly solved. The negro leaned forward, and in a vile lingo of broken English told us that he and his mate were willing to save us, but that they must pretend to defend their boat from our attack, and that we must go through the pantomime of capturing it and utterly defeating them.
At first we were all suspicious that this was a trap, but the negroes assured us that they would not hurt a hair of our heads, and implored us to scramble on board as quickly as possible, as they were just as eager to leave the island as we were.
What a blessed relief it was to hear this, and moreover to find that it was a bonâ fide and genuine ruse on the negroes’ part! Never in our wildest dreams had we expected such good-fortune as this.
The sham fight was really carried out admirably. The negroes and the negress kept up a really awful succession of war-cries as they rushed from one side to the other—at the imminent risk of capsizing the boat—brandishing their paddles, and bringing them down with resounding blows upon the gunwale, varying this procedure with firing an occasional pistol, and making imaginary stabs with knives.
If I had not felt so done up, I should have enjoyed the fun.
At length we had scrambled in over the gunwale, and after a short and apparently desperate encounter, had worsted the negroes, who lay shamming death in the bottom of the boat; whilst old “Mother Bunch,” clasping her pickaninny to her breast, had fallen back in the stern-sheets in an apparently fainting condition.
The pirates seemed crazy at the turn affairs had taken. Some of them rushed into the sea and began swimming out in our direction, whilst others opened a withering fire upon us.
Mr. Triggs and Ned, chuckling to themselves, seized the oars, and commenced pulling the boat out to sea. It was out of my power to assist them.
CHAPTER XXV.
WE ESCAPE TO SEA.
One or two bullets struck the boat, but most fortunately none of us got hit. A brisk fire, however, was kept up for some minutes, and many of the deadly little missiles flew about us with their ominous pings, and then buried themselves harmlessly in the sea.